In
about 1500 work was begun on the new west tower and the east end of
the north aisle or Morton Chapel. Although at opposite ends of the
building, these two items were connected, insofar as it is supposed
that the original llth century north
transept had been heightened in the 13th or 14th centuries to form
a tower, and that this tower would have been retained until replaced
by a new one.

Early
16th Century Floor Plan

The
work carried out on the north aisle and nave at the end of the previous
century must have been completed several years before 1500 as there
is a distinct difference in the style of the work. This is particularly
noticeable in the north aisle and nave clerestory where the earlier
15th century windows have cinquefoil and trefoil headed lights, and
the later windows of the Morton Chapel and the associated nave clerestory
window have plain heads (Left & right photographs below respectively
- click to enlarge).

Morton
Chapel window & associated Nave Clerestory window

The
old west wall of the nave seems to have been rebuilt, or at least
thickened, as it now encroaches into the nave to partially obscure
the springing of the older western arch of the north arcade. In this
new or thickened wall a large arch with tracery panelled soffite and
reveals was constructed, and at its apex an attempt seems to have
been made to reach a compromise where the central axes of the tower
and nave do not coincide. Apart from the adaptation of the west wall
of the nave, the tower was treated as a simple addition. It is a splendid
tower in three stages externally faced with chequered ashlar and flintwork,
with battlemented and pinnacled top, and the brown ferruginous stone
used in the upper stage gives the tower its distinctive appearance.
The stair turret is on the north west corner and there are buttresses
on each face near the angles which terminate as attached pinnacles
in the upper stage. A pierced stone belfry window occurs on each face
and there is a large window (below left) over the west door (below
right) flanked by canopied niches which would have originally contained
carved figures.

The
West window & the West door (click to enlarge)

At
the east end of the north aisle most of the old tower was taken down,
leaving its south wall below the nave eaves level to form the new
section of clerestory walling, and into which was inserted a new clerestory
window. It matches the remaining late 15th century clerestory windows
in size but not in detail, being constructed in early 16th century
fashion with plain headed lights, as were the two new windows in the
north and east walls of the Morton Chapel. At the same time a new
stair turret was formed to gain access to the existing rood loft,
previous access to which could have been by way of an upper chamber
in the old tower. In the chapel there are two semi-octagonal stone
brackets flanking the east window, and a further stone bracket decorated
with a carved angel attached to the east reveal of the north window.
The roof was a shallow double pitched roof continuous with that over
the remainder of the north aisle, and when the whole aisle was later
re-roofed in monopitch form, the old portion over this eastern bay
was retained beneath it and still exists. In Cardinal Morton's will,
proved in 1500, it was directed that a chantry chapel should be founded
in Bere Regis church, with a priest to say Mass for the souls of his
parents for twenty years.

The
south porch is thought to have been added early in this century, but
as it was almost entirely rebuilt in 1875, its date is difficult to
determine. At least it seems to have been added after the widening
of the south aisle as there are unbonded joints at its junction with
the main wall.

Early
in the 16th century the 14th century east window of the south aisle
was replaced by a five light square headed window presumably to admit
more light. It was again replaced in 1875 but may be seen in a pre-1875
photograph.

In
his will of 1535 John Turberville directed that his body should be
buried "in my own aisle before the image of Our Blessed Lady,
in one of the tombs wherein Sir Richard and Sir Robert Turberville
my ancestors hath been buried". In addition, he directed that
the east window of the aisle should be rebuilt and reglazed. It is
thought that the `Turberville window' (below left) was the result
of this direction, and presumably also the canopied altar tomb memorial
below it (below right).

The Turbeville
window & the canopied Altar Tomb (click to enlarge)

Another
apparently older altar tomb (See photograph below) occurs in the east
wall of this aisle, but in both cases the identifying brasses have
disappeared, leaving the rivet holes, as Thomas Hardy put it "like
martin-holes in a sand cliff". One Turberville brass does however
remain, that to Robert Turberville who died in 1559, although it is
now fixed in a less vulnerable position on the wall near the floor
slab to which it was formerly attached.

Altar Tomb (click to enlarge)

Two
further canopied altar tombs formerly existed at the east end of the
north aisle, but the brasses were already missing by about 1770 when
Hutchins visited the church, and he considered them to have been memorials
to the Willoughby family of Turnerspuddle. Sir William Willoughby,
Nicholas Willoughby and Leonard Willoughby, between 1512 and about
1570, all ordered their bodies to be buried in this church. The remains
of one of these canopied tombs are built into the north wall of the
north aisle, consisting of the back with its housings for brasses,
and the carved soffite of the canopy. A carved fragment now built
into the wall in the porch could also have originally formed part
of this tomb.

The
Skerne canopied altar tomb (See below - click to enlarge) on the north
wall of the chancel is similar in design to the others, but it is
in white free-stone and in an almost perfect state of preservation.
The brasses are all intact bearing the date 1596, and around the edges
of the slab are mortises which originally held iron trefoil guards,
one of which remains in a flattened condition. The Skerne family held
land at Winterborne Kingston, and had descended from a branch of the
Spanish kings of Castile and Leon. They were established at Winterborne
Kingston at least by 1458 when Robert Skerne held the manor there,
and John Skerne, whom this monument commemorates, seems to have been
the last of his line, dying in 1593.

The
Skerne Canopied Altar Tomb

Some
16th century bench ends still exist (See below - click to enlarge),
and had been incorporated in the reading pew prior to 1875, but they
now form panels in the backs of the front blocks of nave pews. They
are beautifully carved with arabesques and tracery, and one depicts
an eagle feeding its young, whilst another bears the date 1547 in
Roman numerals-McccccxLVII. Some include carved initials, and another
bears the inscription ION DAV WARDEN OF THYS CHARYS, the last word
appearing to be a compromise between church and parish. Ion Dav was
John Dau or Daw who occurs in the Bere Regis muster roll for 1542,
and a namesake who was churchwarden here in 1656 was doubtless one
of his descendants.

16th
Century Pew Ends

More
old carved woodwork remains in the form of linen-fold panels now incorporated
into the lower section of the screen which forms the south side of
the vestry. Below is an example of one of the beautifully carved Pew
Ends.